A Certain 'Je Ne Sais Quoi'
by Broadwaykat
Summary: Bill explains to his children the importance of who and how you find love. 2nd Place in dobbys socks "Glee iPod Shuffle Challenge" @HPFF


**Author's Note:** _I have a problem writing love stories most of the time. Maybe it's because I hate most rom-coms on the marketplace, and watching things like 'PS I Love You' leaves me a mess. But at the same time, so many of the relationships in Harry Potter are just so interesting to read. I don't think there is quite the same dynamic between even two couples. So I knew that, eventually as a fanfiction writer I would have to dip my toes into the water of love interests. I tried to delve into it a bit with other stories__, but I look back on them now more as buddy-stories than ones that just focus on a romance. I always seem to dilute my love interests with something else. So here it is; my first (in my head) love-centric story._

_I took one of the couple who I think is the most underwritten couple in the series - Bill and Fleur. We know they're canon, and I tend to like canon pairings a bit more. I have never written either of them, but writing this for the challenge was surprisingly entertaining. I may have to follow in on this branch of the Weasley family some other time!  
_  
_Also - I am the hugest Billy Joel/Glee fan out there, so the song was no stretch to try and get some sort of inspiration from. Fleur, in my head, is really the Potterverse's epitomy of an Uptown girl, and Bill slid easily into the part of her heart-of-gold guy._

* * *

_Uptown girl_  
_You know I can't afford to buy her pearls_  
_But maybe someday when my ship comes in_  
_She'll understand what kind of guy I've been_

_- _**"****Uptown Girl" (Billy Joel)**

* * *

Kids, there's something important that your mother and I need to talk to you about.

No, it's _not _that Louis is adopted! Please stop telling him that, Victorie! He takes after me and Grandad Weasley. And your cousin Fred is not a circus monkey transfigured by Uncle George! Honestly, if you keep making these things up maybe we should stop you from seeing Teddy for a while.

That's better.

Your mother and I have decided it's about high time we talked about how it was we got to being a family. (Louis – remember if you make faces like that one day it'll stay that way!) We both think it's high time that you understand where you've come from.

Let's start from the beginning, shall we? Well, your mother and I didn't go to school together like Auntie Hermione and Uncle Ron. Or Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny for that matter. In fact your mother and I didn't get to meet each other until we were long out of school, because your mother lived in France, while I lived with Grandmum and Grandad Weasley. I went to Hogwarts, like you did. (Yes Dom, I _was _a Gryffindor, but that doesn't matter. I wish you'd stop listening to Uncle Ron about all this house feuding, that is not the way to get anything done!)

When I finished school, I went travelling to Egypt. No, it wasn't because I needed to get away from my brothers; at least not entirely. I _was _a bit tired of Uncle Charlie sneaking iguana eggs into our room. I left to seek my fortune. See, there was this movie in the muggle cinemas when I was your age, about a professor, who travelled everywhere having all these adventures: getting the girl, getting along without magic and just being famous everywhere he went. I thought it was brilliant, and I want to be just like that. So I left.

Yes, Louis, I was a bit scared. But you can never be afraid to follow your dreams; remember that.

So I was in Egypt. And in the meantime your mother was still in school. She was younger than me by a bit. (Victorie! I do not know where you learned the phrase 'cradle-robbing' but I do not want to hear you use it again!) She did not come to England until she was seventeen years old. She visited Hogwarts with her school, and participated in the Triwizard Tournament.

She hadn't told you that? She was one of the four champions that year, same with Uncle Harry. If you want to know the details I suppose you should ask her as it's more her story to tell than mine. I only really know how that ended, and it's not a happy story, that...

Anyway, where was I?

That was the year that Voldemort came to power for the second time. (Louis, don't flinch. It's not like he can hurt anyone anymore, you know that!) It was a horrible time. Only a few people believed he was back, and none of us wanted to. Admitting that he was back meant that we were all in danger. Dumbledore, great man that he was, was the only one willing to stand up and admit that the most terrible thing imaginable was not only possible, but true.

I couldn't leave your grandparents after that. I offered to stay in England, and work for what was known as the Order of the Phoenix. (Yes, Dom...it was _that _Order, but that's nothing to brag about.) We were only doing what was right. All my job really entailed was to keep my eyes and ears open for anything happening around Gringott's. I did uncover a few underhanded dealings, I'll admit. But that wasn't the most important thing I found there. Your mother started working there that same year.

The first day your mother and I met, she was assigned as my clerk. She called me a buffoon, because might have accidentally knocked a stack of parchment from her hands. (Hey! Don't snicker, I'm your_ father_ – who's side are you on!) Gradually, the Weasley charm did work it's magic.

What do you mean there's no such thing as the Weasley charm? You go ask your Aunt Hermione what she did to Uncle Ron in their six year, and tell me again we don't have mystical was of wooing the most unlikely of women!

Anyways, I started taking her out quite a lot. People were always wondering how someone like me managed to land 'Miss Delacour'. Heck, _I _wondered that myself. Still, do in fact. But your mother certainly knows what she likes, doesn't she?

Louis – remember what I said about making faces?

Eventually, I knew I had to tell your mother about what was really going on. I really though she'd go running in the other direction, but you know your mother. The night I explained to her what I was really doing in Gringott's, and why, and for who – she said the most amazing thing. 'Dis Vol-de-mort ees no'ting more zan a bothersome flea, butcharing a beeutiful language for foul means. I vill not run. I vill help!' It was then that I knew your mother was more than just her looks. That I loved her. That I wanted to marry her.

So I asked her to marry me. (Yes Dom, of course she said yes. You wouldn't be here otherwise, would you?) Not everyone agreed with us at first. Your grandmum nearly had kittens when we told her. Your Aunt Ginny wasn't exactly thrilled either. But sometimes you have to go and do some things in the name of love, even if people disagree with you.

And no Victoire, this does not mean I give you permission to go off and buy that Nimbus 3200, even if you say you'll love it as much as I love your mother.

Too many people thought we just weren't right for each other. Some of the time I wondered it too. Your mother after all is, well - she's a cut above the rest, isn't she? It was as if we were from two different worlds. You know I couldn't even afford to buy her a decent wedding ring? But she took me anyways. Even after what happened two years into our engagement. You remember what we told you about that, don't you? Fenrir Greyback and the attack on Hogwarts. It's how I got my scars. Many woman would have left a man who was attacked by a werewolf, but not your mother.

Victorie! You better not let your friend Teddy hear you talk like that, because I do not think he'd find that funny! I know we've told you about his mother and father and we do not tell jokes like that in this household! You are a young lady, and I do not appreciate you talking like your were raised in The Hog's Head!

Now, why am I telling you this? Because we think it's important that you know how obstacles can be surpassed. Against the odds, your mother and I stayed together. We survived while so many were lost in the second battle against Voldemort. We raised our family in a Wizarding World that almost had to be completely rebuilt. We want you to recognize that, and to know this: no matter what you choose, who you fall in love with: we want you to be happy. Go after that princess, even if she's out of reach. Follow your heart, because that's what your mother and I did.

Unless their a Malfoy. I'll have to disown you if they're a Malfoy.

I'm kidding, Dom. Just kidding.


End file.
